Village Diaries

The moment we hear the word Village, we imagine shabby lanes, large haunted houses, people wearing turbans and many other things show up immediately. Any of us can have their native villages, but rarely any one of us visits. This holiday I spent a week in my mother tongue observe their routine. In contrast to our houses in villages houses smeared with mud, and they are opening the well, byre and garden are located. When I came into our house, I could see six pairs of eyes examining me. Two cows and a calf staring me with a questioning look, as if to say "who is it now? When we just skip our two meals a day, how can we feed an extra mouth!". I have since learned that cattle were to collapse due to starvation caused by drought. This house was very old and strangely quiet. The house was so cool that it did not do anything if there was power or not, cool breeze always flew in and out. As night approached, electricity made his absence felt in the dark and the house looked like a haunted one. Next day when I was lazing around, I saw two glowing eyes in the dark corner of the house. The animal jumped aside to reveal themselves, it was a brown and white stripped cat!. Gracefully it into the kitchen and began to purr loudly as if to say: "My cup is empty! You have not poured milk on it," My aunt in turn replied, "Stop screaming, young man!". The cat paused immediately. It started screening site and its eyes were on me wide in shock! It ran away, as I made a move. The cat visited the house daily, and had his siesta in a secluded corner.

In the evening hours all the residents of the village would peep out of their houses to have a chat with neighbors. No villager was foreign to them, they knew everyone in the village. One morning I woke with a start because of chirping noises above my head. As I looked so hoard of sparrows fluttering above. They had their cozy nests built on our roof! The sparrows were so busy twittering, my presence went unnoticed. Have seen any sparrows on your window sills? Strange that they their population has dwindled in the cities

I have a friend in my village. But because of poverty, she did not continue his studies further.Now, apart from managing her house, she also takes tuition for children in the evening hours.She charges only RS20 month for each child and around 15 of them participate in her classes.Does that ring a bell somewhere? Urban people tend to be paranoid, but the country people trust each other, this is what I observed during my stay. In villages, many elderly people live all alone in big houses without fear. This is the real concept of freedom that our forefathers fought for. Today villages are in serious danger, as their population is declining. People move to cities where they are forced to live a miserable life. Every city has a slum area, the residents are those who migrate from villages. If these sites are equipped with good facilities, will reduce this migration. We can not afford to lose our villages, as they are at the heart of our culture, agriculture, and has enormous reserves of manpower. Let us all hope that these lively places will be stored and protected in the near future!